


Tainted Love

by aliscoles



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-18 05:03:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3557030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliscoles/pseuds/aliscoles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zakira had very limited expectations in life. She expected to remain the First of her clan until her Keeper died. Then she expected to become Keeper, find a nice elf in her clan to settle down with, have a child or two, train a First and maybe a Second, then die. What she didn't expect was to become the Herald to a religion she did not follow and to become involved in events that would determine the fate of the universe. Let the Dread Wolf take you indeed...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tainted Love

**Author's Note:**

> Zakira and Solas. It’s summer and they’re in the Emerald Glaves.

Zakira lay outside of her tent, staring up at the beautiful green canopy. She hated sleeping in a tent but when they were on the rainy Storm Coast or in the freezing Hitherlands, Zakira understood the need. However, the Emerald Graves were too beautiful to waste by sleeping inside.

She stretched out on the soft grass and stared up at the sky peaking through the leaves. For a moment she imagined she were home, back with her clan. Zakira sighed and pushed her light blonde hair out of her eyes. Somedays she was glad to be away, to be seeing new things and meeting new people, and  _learning_. Other days she was so homesick she felt physically sick. Zakira sighed again and rubbed her eyes.

Sleep was important, tomorrow was going to be a busy day. Zakira turned her eyes towards Solas’s tent. Sometimes she was envious of him. It would be nice to be able to sleep anywhere, at any time. Solas’s interest in the Fade was fascinating and Zakira did share it, however, she loved the real world too much to be able to live the way Solas did. Solas was like a person who ate to live. They never enjoyed their food, it was just something that sustained them. Zakira felt that Solas missed out on so much by only living his life to sleep it away.

Zakira closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to drift. She thought of her home, her childhood, her family, her little sister with her big eyes, and her father with his stern expression but laughing eyes. Then she was there. Zakira was always very aware she was dreaming but she liked to play along. Currently she was in the Emerald Graves, with her clan. She was in the body she had when she was a teenager, and her feet were resting in a brook that her team had crossed earlier in the day. Her clan had never come here before, but it was a nice dream that they had.

All around her were fireflies, those were real, or at least they _had_  been. Zakira could still remember running with her sister on warm summer nights to catch them between. Lightning bugs, her sister had called them. Beautiful and bright, like the light Zakira could make dance across her fingers. As she got older it became less fun to catch lightning bugs and pretend she had lightning in her hands, when she really could have lightning in her hands. When she was named first, there had been less time for running and catching bugs with her sister. 

A little ball of fluffy hair came flying at Zakira, landing in the small elven teen’s lap. Big green eyes, that were bigger and brighter than Zakira’s light green eyes stared up at her, “‘Kira, ‘Kira!” The fluff ball exclaimed brightly, making Zakira’s name sound more like a birdsong then a name. Zakira squeezed the spirit that was pretending to be her baby sister before carefully pushing her fluffy blonde hair out of her face. Vawyn, refused to cut her hair and their mother indulged her- and their father never crossed their mother. Her hair now reached the back of her knees, and the four year old showed no signs of cutting it at all.

“Hello, Vawyn,” Zakira said smiling down at her.

“Will you chase the lightning bugs with me?” She asked, beaming happily up at her sister. Zakira spotted light gleaming off skin in the distance and she knew who it was.

“Not tonight, Vawyn,” Zakira said, “Go, I will watch.”

Vawyn pouted for a moment but a red headed elven boy about the same age as her, ran past and she ran after him laughing and yelling for him to wait for her.

Zakira stood up and walked over to the figure at the edge of the clearing. She kept one eye on her sister, although she knew it wasn’t really her sister.

“Is this what you looked like as a child, Zakira?” Solas asked. Outside the Fade he was more formal, but here he called her by her name.

“I would hardly call this form a child’s form, Solas,” Zakira said back with a light smile, “You came for me?”

“I thought you might want to see something. I see now you were enjoying your own dream. You never mentioned you came to the Emerald Graves before.”

“I didn’t.”

“Ah,” Solas looked off at the clan, “…that little girl, is she?” He coughed awkwardly.

Zakira laughed outright, “No, no! She’s not mine,” she said, pushing hard on Solas’s arm, “Do I strike you as a teenage mother?”

Solas grumbled, “You are… very hard to read…” he said after a few moments.

Zakira smiled and arched one thin blonde eyebrow, “Is that a compliment or an insult?” She asked.

“It’s whatever you choose to make it, Inquisitor.”

“Oh, don’t be so formal Solas. I’m sorry for teasing you.”

“Your clan…. it looks nice…” Solas mentioned after a few minutes of awkward silence.

“Are you feeling alright?” Zakira asked, Solas sent her a look and she dropped her cheeky grin, “Sorry, sorry,” she said, “I’m just not used to you saying anything nice about my culture.”

“They raised you and brought you to m-the Inquisition.”

Zakira blushed and looked at her toes, not sure how to respond. Her hand slipped into his, and even though it wasn’t  _real_ , Solas’s hand felt warm in hers.

“Fireflies on a warm summer night, it fits you, ma vhenan.” Solas murmured. Zakira’s cheeks burned and her hand tightened around his.

“You wanted to show me something?” Zakira stammered feeling as if Solas’s invasion of her dream had shown him more of her than she wished. She had given him permission to enter as he wanted, but Zakira had forgotten how telling dreams could be.

Solas nodded and pulled Zakira from her clan into the wilderness of the Emerald Graves which quickly transformed as they walked. Zakira held fast to Solas’s hand and he returned the gesture. She smiled to herself and looked down at her feet. Perhaps the Fade was better than she had previously thought.


End file.
